Co-Champion Tennis Left out of NCS Tourney
May 31, 2019
In spite of being co-champions with Miramonte in the Diablo Athletic League (DAL) with a record of 8-2, boy’s tennis was not selected to be in the North Coast Section (NCS) tournament while the Matadors were given a spot.
Coach Jimmy Scott said, “We had a fantastic season and I am very proud of the work we have done. Unfortunately, we did not make NCS, even though I think we deserved it. It was a tough blow to the team, but I know we will bounce back next year and do even better.”
The rivals split their 2 matches during the regular season. Since both teams had the same record, NCS decided to look at how many games total each school had won in their head to head matches, with Miramonte gaining the advantage by a single game.
Junior player Sanjeev Sarin said, “Our matches were the most competitive matches I have ever participated in. When the fate of the whole match comes down to 2 people, the tension is extremely high and everyone is yelling on the top of their lungs.”
Some were convinced they would be invited to the NCS tournament. Sophomore Josh Fleming said, “Last year we beat Miramonte in the league, yet they still got into NCS, but this year we both won the league and only they got a spot. Also, we beat 1 of the teams that got a spot 10-0, so it blows my mind that we were not selected.”
While the NCS snub was hard to handle given the team’s current senior talent, players remain optimistic about the future of the program. Sophomore player Noam Aylon said, “I think that our team next year is going to need a lot of work, but I think that we can still do very well next year. The loss of 4 seniors after this year is going to hurt us a lot, but I think that we have some pretty good people coming in from JV and with some hard work and dedication we can get 1st place next year.”
Fleming added, “Along with a few of my fellow upperclassmen, we will be practicing with them this summer and having them play practice matches with each other to see how they rank up. As opposed to other years, we actually need singles players this year because we have extremely strong doubles teams.”
